Doctors Face Fraud Charges

State To Arrest Seven S. Florida Chiropractors In Insurance Case

At least 33 Florida chiropractors may have participated in a scheme to defraud insurers - a type of crime that costs consumers more than $100 billion a year nationwide.

State prosecutors said on Thursday they plan to arrest 13 of the chiropractors, including five from Broward County and two from Dade County. They will be charged with unlawful insurance solicitation.

Other chiropractors may be charged as the investigation unfolds, they said.

The charges stem from an 18-month investigation triggered by the arrest of two consultants who referred patients to chiropractors for a fee of $275 to $300 each.

The consultants, Glenn and Susan Prebeck, obtained traffic accident reports from local law enforcement agencies and called accident victims. Sometimes they posed as a community service agency offering free chiropractic exams. Others were told that insurers wanted the exams.

The Prebecks, who operated from Miami Beach in 1993 and 1994, have pleaded no contest to 22 counts of insurance solicitation fraud. They are cooperating in the investigation.

So far the chiropractors have been charged with only illegal solicitation, a third-degree felony. But prosecutors suspect they may have billed insurers for unneeded treatments.

"We're not suggesting that all of those people weren't hurt, but the harm feared is that they were not hurt," said Joseph Pappacoda, assistant statewide prosecutor.

Pappacoda said patients were called 10 days to two weeks after an accident. "If you were really hurt, wouldn't you go seek medical attention during this time?" Pappacoda said.

Investigators tripped up the Prebecks by slipping them a fake accident report. It was referred to Dr. Frank Darrow, a Coral Springs chiropractor, who treated an undercover investigator. Darrow has been charged with grand theft and insurance fraud, Pappacoda said.

Among those charged on Thursday were Jeffrey Scott Gordon of Pembroke Pines; Allen Jay Britt of Deerfield Beach; William Michael Seufert of Hollywood; Renny Mitchell Edelson of Plantation; Daniel Miles Barr of Fort Lauderdale; Perry Scott Saul of Miami; and Kevin Marlin of Miami.

Saul said he had no involvement with the Prebecks. "I knew they were bad right from the beginning," he said.

Rick S. Cullen, an attorney representing Britt, said the charges were brought to polish the image of Florida Insurance Commissioner Bill Nelson as a crime fighter.

"It looks to me like another case where they're letting the real criminals [the Prebecks) go to set up a group of high-profile citizens - the doctors," Cullen said.